Guardians
by UmbraIntuneric
Summary: Betrayed, alone and dying Kagome finds that there is someone that does care. Hope comes in the most unlikely of forms. What happens to those that have betrayed her?


**The Guardians**

************ALONE & BLEEDING************

Her vital crimson blood pooling on the ground at her feet hiding from view the green grass that surrounded her. Her almost ebony eyes almost closed in pain but she didn't feel the physical pain of the claw marks to her body this was a pain in her heart that would never heal. Her spirit broken her life over the moment that he had mated with his former lover just as she had known it would be. Nothing in this world had prepared her for the betrayal of his loyalty, she didn't even care about his love it was the friendship that she had taken such pain to preserve. The sting of it far out weighed the rivers of blood that flowed from the claw marks to her chest.

She knew that it would only be a matter of time until he came back to finish the job, but for now the lovers needed her to gather the last piece of their treasure once that was over she would be dead. She refused to allow him to be the one to kill her she would do that on her own. She would die retrieving the treasure that he so desired and then she would give it to the one person that she knew he hated more than anything in the world his brother. She would die at his brother's hands not his.

Some where along the way she had come to see his brother in a different light than the others that she had traveled with for some time now. She knew that his brother would never do what he had just done to her. There was no real comparison in the two anymore in her eyes. She knew who the better of the two was. Though he said that he didn't care he did he just didn't let others get close enough to hurt him as she had been tonight. She had to find him so that she could make sure that once she was done with what she had planned he would be able to hide the treasure from the one that had in effect killed her tonight.

The hanyou had told his lady to seal the well. He had taken everything about her that had made her who she was all in one move. He had condemned her to a life here that would never be complete never be what she wanted. Well maybe not all that she wanted there, there was something here that she wanted but she knew that she couldn't have it. Still he had taken her family her friends her life in one night all because of his greed. She couldn't forgive this one. Never all that made her unique here stripped from her all in just few moments. She didn't want to hear the voice that pounded in her brain but it continued to pound into her so that it was the only one that she heard. Nothing more nothing less just those words and the vision of him and his lover sealing the well over as she stood there behind his lovers barrier so that she couldn't move and stop them.

************FLASHBACK TO HOURS BEFORE************

She had just come through the well and found him and her kissing again this time his jaki was different. It was tainted with the woman's jaki as well. They had mated and now all they wanted was her death. She knew it the moment that she had stepped out of the well. She had still thought that he wouldn't hurt her. How wrong could she have been? His claws shining in the night, her blood still falling in drops to the ground, he had turned on her. There was nothing left for her to do but walk away from him. That was when she had felt the barrier that his mate had cast around her to prevent her leaving the clearing. She turned around and looked at the couple as they laughed at her.

"No more leaving for you." Smiled the hanyou as he held on to the lover that he had wanted for so long. The one that he had always compared her to, the same one that he would kill her for.

"What do you mean?" she asked holding her breath as she heard his lover chanting under her breath at the same time pouring energy into the spell that she was casting on the well.

"You are stuck here forever now you little bitch! You have no choice but to help us defeat Naraku and finish the Jewel and you know it. Watch as a true miko takes your life from you leaving you with nothing." Laughed the hanyou as he watched the horror spread across her face.

"NO! You can't do that to me! Please don't take them away from me!" she had pleaded but it was too late she felt the magic of the well fade as the spell took hold on it. She then watched in stunned silence as the hanyou grabbed a large tree and shoved it deep into the well. There was no returning now. Even with out the tree she would never be able to return to her family. She was lost here.

She watched the happy couple leave the clearing and move on out of the area. They were going to mate again leaving her there alone knowing that at any moment that a youkai could find her and kill her for what she did have of the Shikon No Tama. Nonetheless that was where she had been for a few hours now, bleeding and dying.

************END FLASHBACK***********

She heaved a heavy sigh knowing that she would finish this all tonight but not knowing how she was going to last until she could make it to the one that held the remaining parts of the treasure that they so desired. Oh well right now she didn't care about lasting that long all she wanted to do was tell the others good bye in case she didn't make it that far. She moved slowly toward the village that was nearby so that she could tell the others that she loved here that she wouldn't be seeing them again. She didn't want them to know what it was that she would be leaving them to do all that mattered was that she knew. She didn't care what they thought they would think that she had gone nuts but hey what else was there to do.

The walk was slow but it didn't help matters any that she kept falling down from the loss of blood to her body. She didn't care though one last time one last trip then she would find the peace that she knew in her heart that the hanyou would never find. That was when she felt him in the distance walking to her slowly. He knew that she was there and knew that she was injured but he didn't seem to know how or why. He didn't seem all that interested in it either but hell she didn't care about anything right now. All that she wanted was to tell him that she wanted him to take the jewel from her so that the hanyou would never get it from him.

"Why are you bleeding?" he asked as he appeared in front of her standing there tall and strong. So many things that she would have like to have told him but right now there just wasn't the time. She raised her eyes trying to look into the warm gold that she knew that they were but her body so weak from the lack of blood that she couldn't do it.

"You know why don't you?" she asked him. His voice though low still sent chills through her body as innocent as it was. The thoughts that raced through her mind the images of things that she would never get to do with him too much to take right now. She had been hurt by one of them tonight wasn't that enough. She loved him that she had no doubt about but she would never tell him she would kill her heart so that she could take care of the other hanyou that was the bane of her life and then die never telling him that she had come to love him. He didn't need to know that, she didn't want to face the fact that now that she had been beaten down that she was backing down.

"I know who did it I don't know why." His simple answer

"Because he wants my soul for his lover." she answered there was no pain in her voice now and though it was there in her heart She wouldn't let him see it. He thought her strong so she would be that way from now until the moment that she died she would turn as cold as he had and stay that way nothing would hurt her after tonight anyway she wouldn't be alive to hurt.

"So why are you going back to the place that you know he is bound to go to retrieve it when you die?" he asked her

"I am telling my friends and my son goodbye." Her simple answer though it was cold and toneless he knew very well that she was in pain. He had known her for far too long, she could pretend that she didn't hurt but he knew that her body was the least of her worries at the moment.

"Would you like assistance in doing that?" he asked shaking her to the core. Why would he do that for her?

"You would help me even though I am human?"

"Yes. There are some things that I wanted to talk to you about but I don't know that you will listen to me." He said his voice low, he got down in to a crouch so that he was closer to her face so that she could see him.

He had been following her from the moment that she had come through the well. He knew that he was to be the real guardian of this miko but his brother had beaten him to the punch. Now look what had happened to her. For 5 years she had cared for and loved his brother and look where she was now. There was no fire in her none of the miko that he had come to care for over the years. She didn't even know that he had been watching over her for that long. She never would if she didn't talk to him tonight. She would die at the hands of his brother or the other hanyou Naraku just because he had left her for one night. He hated to feel like he had let her down. There was still a chance that she could make it and survive but she needed to make that choice on her own he couldn't force it on her too much had been already. She needed to believe him. He doubted that she would though, they had never talked like this before and though he had longed to take her pain he couldn't she would think him to be using her like his brother had for the past 5 years now.

"What would that be you know that I won't be here much longer." Her voice soft in the night

"Will you listen and believe?" he asked he had to know if she would it would be important for her to hear all that he had to tell her.

"I know that you have not lied to me and that you wont hurt me you don't want to taint your claws with my blood."

"That isn't why I am here. I wouldn't harm you anyway." Came his gentle voice it was warm for the first time in a long time. He needed to get through to the heart that he knew very well was broken and splintered in front of him. She had to know.

"Why are you here then?" she asked him

"To talk to you, to give you a chance." He said warmly as her black eyes looked up at him

"What chance I am dying. I will talk to you as long as I can I don't know how much longer I can stay awake."  
"All I ask is that you listen to what I have to say."

"That is fine." She said as she sat back on her butt, she had been on all fours when he walked up she was trying to get more comfortable but until she made her choice all he could do was talk to her.

*******MEET YOUR TRUE GUARDIAN KAGOME*******

"You know how the Jewel that my baka brother wants came into being right?" he asked her

"Yes."

"All right then you know that there are two spirits in it battling all the time for power right?"

"Yes."

"Then this will assist you in understanding what it is that I am going to tell you. You see that the Shikon No Tama calls to those who protect it though in your case you didn't have a choice but to take the burden of it. It was inside of you until you came here right?" he asked her knowing all ready that he was right

"Yeah but what do you mean by telling me that it chooses it guardians?  
"It chooses who guards it. You didn't have that choice but I did. My brother took that from me when he started to stand at your side. I could do nothing but watch from a distance. Now though I can stand at your side, I can be here for you like I should have been from the start."

"How do you know that you were the original guardian of the Shikon No Tama?"

"I can see them too." Came his simple answer as he moved closer to her.

"You are telling me that reason that Inuyasha cant see them is that he isn't the one that the Jewel chose?"

"Yes Kagome. The jewel called to me the day that you came through the well I knew then that it was I not my brother that had been chosen to guard you and the jewel. In taking my place he has caused much more damage than I would have, not only to the people of this time but to you as well."

"So you have been following me for 5 years without us knowing it?"

"Yes Kagome did you ever wonder why you were seldom cold why you were seldom hurt? I was there with you at night keeping you warm watching over you when he left to see Kikyou at night. Several times I know that you would have died had I not been there."

"I never knew that you were there. Why didn't you tell me?"

"You believed the lies that my brother told you. Well to be honest they weren't all lies. Things have changed since I came to be the guardian of the Shikon No Tama. I saw in you the strength of human emotion and the fierceness of the human spirit and now as you sit there in front of me Kagome you are the only reason that I changed my mind. The reason that I can now sit here in front of you talking to you like this, the reason that I can feel once again, the reason that I don't want to be alone anymore."

"What are you trying to tell me?"

"You healed much more than my arm long ago I just never told you that you did." His voice low almost seductive but he wouldn't want that from her would he? She questioned her own ears there was no way that she had just heard something almost like love in his voice.

"What are you really saying Sesshoumaru I don't understand? I hear something that I have never heard in your voice before what the hell is going on with you?"

"I have been watching you for 5 years I know you almost better than you know yourself. I have come to see you as more than just a friend." His voice rough with the emotion that he was hiding from her he didn't want her to know now but then again that might just open the doors to her heart. How to get her to ask the right question? The scent of her blood tearing him apart as he looked at her she needed to change but would she do it for him. He needed to explain what was going on so that she would understand why he was really here in more than one way he needed her more than he needed to breathe.

"How much more?"

"Let me finish explaining and then I will tell you all right?" he asked as he placed a hand on her pale cheek. The only reason that she was still sitting there and not dead was the fact that he had used some of his power to help her but she had to make the choice soon he wouldn't be able to help her for much longer.

"All right you seem to be taking the long way to do that." She smiled faintly it wasn't the one that he had come to crave but it would have to do for now.

"I know I have just never talked to you like this before. The Shikon No Tama is two parts one is demonic the other is human right?"

"Yes."

"All right well the Jewel requires both to guard it. You are here dying right now are you not?"

"Yes."

"Well what if when you died the Shikon No Tama shattered again?"

"That would really suck."

"Yes I think that it would. You have to live; I know how that can be done. You have the human heart and soul that the Shikon No Tama requires you to have right?"

"Yes and you have the demonic heart and soul though to listen to your brother you don't have one."

"Well that shows you what he knows. So if you retained the human heart and soul but your body were to change into that of a demon you would still have what it is that the Shikon No Tama requires you to have."

"You are saying that there is a way that I can live through this and take a demon form, while still being the protector of the Shikon No Tama?"

"Yes Kagome I know that it sounds outrageous but I have lived for about 1,500 years I have seen this thing come and go and every time that it is put back together it finds another host as it were and kills them as well. The only way to deal with it would be to have the Guardians be demonic so that they would never die. The Jewel would always be it could not be destroyed but to continually guard it so that it can not cause the harm that it has done so many times in my lifetime alone."

"You mean that I would have the pieces that the jewel wants but I would be cursed with it for eternity?" She asked him she was looking for a reason for all of the information that he was giving her.

"If you had the love of a youkai then you wouldn't be cursed would you?" he asked her gently trying not to let his emotions for her show on the surface.

"What do you mean the love of a youkai? No demon loves me none ever will." Tears were on the edges of her black eyes as she looked into his. He knew that she still hadn't figured it out yet.

"What if I were to tell you that you all ready had the heart of a demon waiting for your touch?"

"Who the hell would dumb enough to fall in love with me?" she asked the wounds from his brother on the surface. The pain that she had hidden for far too long there on the surface as she tried to understand what it was that he was saying.

"Kagome I have not told you all of it yet. If you had the love of a demon and you still held the heart and soul of a human you would have all that you ever needed. The love that even now you need, the lifetime that you deserve for being the Guardian of the Jewel and you would be happy. The Jewel would have all that it needs."

"You still haven't answered my question what youkai do I know that would be asinine enough to fall in love with me a weak human?" the tears now falling unheeded by her down her face. He was torn he didn't see her as a weak human anymore that hadn't been true since she had stood up to him when Inuyasha went ballistic in that village so long ago. She was powerful in her own way her heart her love much more than even he knew that he deserved. He moved his thumb to catch one of those crystal drops from her eye.

"Kagome . . . you aren't weak. These tears show me no weakness just the strength of your heart. They are the reason that I am here that I have been here for so long. The reason that I have found myself feeling something that I never thought that I would something that until I got to know you was impossible for me to feel. The reason that I want you to listen to me tonight. I know that you have no reason to believe the words of my mouth I know that you have no reason to take what I tell you as the truth knowing that I have never shown you anything other than what it was that my brother told you about me but look into me see what you have brought to life again. Feel what you have released in me; see what you have caused to happen to me. Know that I can not leave you here tonight not matter what you ask me to do I will now be at your side one way or the other until you die." His voice filled with the love that he had hidden from her for far too long, his desire to take care of her in his golden eyes, which blazed with the love that he needed her to see.

"You have no emotion Sesshoumaru you are the Ice Prince," she said sadly

"Is that what you really see in my eyes? Could you be trying to hide from what you yourself feel for me what I know that you feel for me? Why hide when I am right in front of you offering you the chance to have what you have always wanted what you have dreamed of for so long?"

"What do you think it is that I want?" she asked looking into his eyes seeing all that made him into the man that sat there in front of her. His gentle hand on her face caressing her cheek tenderly. His touch telling her that there was indeed much more to him than she had at first thought. She was drowning in his intense gaze she had never known she had thought about him this way but to see him in front of her now as she sat there bleeding from the wound of his brothers' claws she had never realized that there could be found in this Ice Prince. She had wanted something like this from him for so long that to see it there was almost too much for her to take in that moment. She sucked in her breath as the full picture came into focus for her. He was the one that wanted to change her, he was the one that wanted to love her he was the one that had changed he loved her more than even she had thought that he could. He wanted to give her the chance to have the life that she had always wanted the love that she had always thought Inuyasha would have for her the love that she knew now he would never have for her that same love could save her if she allowed it to do so.

"You want what only I can give to you." His voice a whisper on her face as he moved closer to her.

"Are you sure that you have what it takes to love a human heart?" she asked as her face moved closer to his own

"I am willing to do all that I can to make you happy. I will learn from the things that you have shown to me, I will do everything you want from me to assure your happiness and health. Are you willing to allow me inside?"

"You have been there for a while now Sesshoumaru I just never found a way to tell you that."

"I am here now, I am waiting, tell me now. Know that I will never hurt you if I can help it." His lips just a whisper from hers now he wanted to kiss her he needed to kiss her but she had to tell him first.

"You are all that I dream of, you are all that I think of, you are all that I have longed for, you are the only one that will ever make me whole." She whispered her eyes locked on his as she sat there in front of him.

"That is all that I needed to hear." He whispered as his lips found hers.

************CHANGING FOR LIFE & LOVE************

The kiss was electric. Their hearts raced his tender touch on her face became a little more possessive as he held her there. His other hand the one that she had returned to him long ago moved to meet its mate on her face. He pushed her back to the ground so that she was flat under him. Her soft lips caressing his as he moved his hands around her holding her tightly he didn't care that she was still bleeding on him all that he cared about in that moment was the touch of her lips on his. The love that he felt from her as she licked his bottom lip. He opened his mouth to her allowing her to taste him as he longed to taste her. Her spice of cinnamon and mint struck a cord in him he longed to see if her taste was this way every where but for now he would have to take this kiss and make it last him until he had her willing to take him as a mate but if her scent were any indication she was ready even now to take him wholly as her own. He couldn't do that though knowing that she needed to finish the task that she had set before herself.

He pulled back from the kiss knowing that if he let it go on for too long that there was no way that he would leave her with out taking her as his mate tonight. She needed time to heal and it wasn't from the physical injuries he could heal those on his own it was her heart that he wanted to have healed but he knew that with the power that she had released in him the love that she had freed in him that that on its own would be enough to heal her. He had to give her the choice that was all there was to it if she took the chance on him he swore that he would never allow her to feel the pain that now tore her heart in two.

"What you are suggesting is that we mate?" she asked him looking deep into his eyes

"Yes in a way Kagome. I know that your heart is torn and I know that you might not love me right now but I know how I feel for you I can only hope in time that you will see that I mean it when I tell you that you are more precious to me than my own life right now and I would do what ever it took to make sure that you are never hurt like this by me." He said as his lips brushed hers in a chaste kiss.

"You wouldn't leave me for another?" she asked him

"Never I would be able I wouldn't want to."

"You would always protect me from all that might cause me harm?"

"Always with my life and my last breath for that is all that I can really give to you."

"You would love any children that we had?"

"Yes they would know the life of my true heirs."

"What is required to change me?" she asked her voice so soft that had he not been right in front of her face he wouldn't have heard her

"We will both be in some pain my dearest but I can tell you that tonight you will be as lethal as I and you will have full command of your powers. I know that you are pure but one ritual requires that you take blood from me above my heart the other that you and I hold the Tenseiga and I bleed into you."

"Which one does what?"

"I will not put you through the mating tonight I know that you are going to fight Naraku tonight. I also know that you are going to tell the others that you are leaving so I will not put you through that pain tonight but know that I will not wait long after we defeat the hanyou to do so."

"So what are the two that we must do tonight?"

"Changing and training."

"What do you need from me?"

"Lay down on your back and trust me knowing that I care more about you than I have anything else in my life and I will die to prevent anymore pain to you."

"You mean that I have to put myself at your mercy?"

"Yes can you do that?"

"I trust you not to hurt me."

"That is enough for now, we need to change you first so you are going to have to sit on my lap or I can lean over you. Perhaps the second would be easier on you seeing as you are still bleeding." She watched him take off the white silk shirt with the red shoulders and cuffs off and lay it on the ground next to them, next was the second lighter weight shirt under it and it too met its mate on the ground. Mate now there was a word that she had never thought to hear associated with Sesshoumaru let alone herself and him. The thought was comforting though; they would be doing this to both guard the Shikon No Tama but also the heart of the other so that they wouldn't be hurt again.

"Are you sure that you don't want me to sit on your lap? Wouldn't that one be easier for you?" she asked he didn't have to do this, granted he was the official guardian of the Shikon No Tama but he could have left her there to die. He didn't though he wanted her no one else just her so she would do all that she could to make sure that she didn't hurt him or cause him any kind of pain she wanted him to be happy, just as she herself wanted to be.

"If you wish to I have no problem either way. On my lap would be easier for the both of us if you wanted to though."

"Then your lap it is but I can't move all that well now."

"I will help you Kagome. I told you that I would do all that I could to take care of you no matter what it was."

"Ok but don't do anything that you don't want to do, believe me I know how that feels." She sighed as she slowly sat up in front of him as he leaned back against the same tree that she was under. She turned a little just enough to allow him to reach under her arms and pull her onto his bare warm strong chest.

"When it comes to you Kagome there isn't much that you could ask me that I wouldn't want to do for you." His whisper in her ear as she watched him take one of his long sharp silver claws slice his chest open right above his heart. "Drink from me the gift of life mai kokoro." His voice rough as he felt her lips come over the cut he had put in his chest.

**********THE MARKING OF SESSHOMARU***********

WARNING: BLOOD PLAY!

He felt every tiny suck on his chest above his heart; it sent a shock of electricity though him straight to his groin, which was all ready semi awake at the simple kiss that they had shared. Her tiny mouth trying so hard not to harm him but he knew that there would be no pain in this the training was where the real pain for the both of them would be. This act was so sensual so erotic that he would have to remember the feelings that sharing his life blood with her like this called forth in his body, he would make sure that once she was his mate that they would do this again.

Her small bottom right on top of his desire for her, her tiny hands braced against his chest, her long black hair spilling around them covering them in the blackest veil, her black eyes closed as she breathed gently on his chest. He wrapped his arms around her waist pulling her closer to him. His heart racing as she gently sucked on his chest, a low purr like growl slid from between his lips. She backed off of him and looked into his eyes; though they were closed he knew that she was looking at him. What was he to say to her? What could he say to her that wouldn't make her think something was wrong?

"It didn't hurt me, as a matter of fact you don't have to be so gentle with me." His voice low and rough as the desire for her rose. He didn't want to open his eyes he had a feeling that the sight of the desire that he was holding from her was something that would scare the shit out of her. He heard her intake of breath as she moved her hands up toward his face.

"Look at me Sesshoumaru." Her voice a breath still fragranced with the scent of his blood.

"Drink from me then you will see what the effects of this are on me. Remember you can't hurt me suck harder on me so that you can get what it is that you need from me. That growl was of pleasure."

"You mean you liked that?"

"Yes I did now continue so that you don't die here in my arms."

"We are going to have to talk aren't we?" her voice almost begging for something and he knew what that something was he could smell it in her scent but he wouldn't take that not tonight but soon very soon.

"Yes but not about this not right now you know that you need to do this so take from me what you need. I will not be harmed from this. Drink from me."

"All right Sesshoumaru, for now I will do as you asked but know that when we mate that I will not always listen to what you order me to do I have to keep myself if you know what I mean."

"I know now drink from me." His voice lower and rougher than before almost pleading with her as he thought of the mating that he knew would come soon.

Her mouth again moved to his chest and her lips found the trail of blood that had slivered down the valleys of the mountain rock formations of his chest like a river. Her tongue soft and moist found the bottom of the trail that had carved its way down his chest to his navel. She moved back from him and placed her tongue on the bottom of the trail and licked cleaning him of the blood returning him to the pristine beauty that he was. As her tongue moved from his navel to the still open cut on his chest the fires of his passion rose higher he wanted her tonight now this moment but he wouldn't take her not now she needed to be alive for him to think of that. She had taken some of his blood but he knew that she hadn't taken enough for it to change her. Her body started to heat up in his arms and he knew that the change was starting her back ached as she continued to draw his blood from him. Each hard long draw was pleasure so intense that his sword begged to be released from its sheath and placed into her tight warm wet folds but not tonight he kept repeating but soon. Her teeth grazed his skin not marring him but drawing yet another purr like growl from him. Their scents tangled and mixed she was gradually changing in his arms their auras tangled and fought in the air above them but soon they began a tight dance of energy blue silver light and red silver light dancing in the night above them. He knew then that no matter if they had mated for just the sake of the jewel that she was really the soul mate that he had longed for and that the love that he had for her was returned.

She moved in his embrace as the change continued, her bottom moved gently against him as she felt the change taking place in her body. She wanted something more than to simply drink his blood but knew that they would have to wait for that. Her body was on fire for him as she continued to drink the fine wine that was his life force. There was nothing more intoxicating to her as the taste of his blood. He wanted her she knew that she could feel his desire for her on her bottom but she knew that he would control himself but the sensations of his body against hers like this were driving her crazy. She wanted to release all of the power of her desire for him the tension between the two of them was driving her crazy. She moved her hips a little against him and he responded to her by moving his hips against her. He wanted this too she moved so that her legs were on either side of him as she sat there on top of him. She moved against him again knowing that there had to be a way to get rid of this aching for him without taking it all the way. She moved against him again as he moved against her, her teeth and tongue still connected to the cut in his chest. The fire of his blood in her veins she knew was changing her but she wanted something else from him would he help her find the release that she needed that she wanted?

She moaned against his chest as she continued to move against him. Her movements were innocent and unsure but she still moved herself against the hardness that she felt there against her core. Her body was screaming for something she didn't know quite what it was but she was willing to try to find out what it was. She knew that Sesshoumaru would be the one to take her to the end of this journey but she wanted it she couldn't have it any other way. She moved back and forth against him her heart racing not just from the effects of the change but the pleasure that was racing through her blood at his touch at the hardness that she felt so close but so far away from where she really wanted it to be. The pleasure in her grew as she moved against him, he was growling lightly in his chest he knew what it was that she was doing. He wanted to give her this she needed to feel this and if it was during the change that she did it that would be fine with him. He moved his hips against her as she continued to make the long hard pulls on his chest pulling his lifeblood into her so that she could change.

Her wounds were healing but he didn't care he was almost lost in the feeling of her riding his sword, he would not loose control over the passion that raged in him. As she got closer to her release the pulls from her mouth got harder and stronger he felt like he was dying right there in her arms she had gotten him to the point that he wanted to take her he fought against the desire to flip her on her back and drive home the fact that she was his. He felt her body begin to shake and her breathing became harder as she got closer her movements became harder and more forceful he knew that she was going to shatter in his arms he ground his teeth trying to prevent the loud growl of desire for her from breaking through his lips as she completed the change he felt her fangs grazing his skin right above his heart and had a feeling that when she shattered that she would end up marking him claiming him for her own. It didn't bother him but he was sure that she wouldn't realize what she had done when she pulled back from him. He wanted her mark if nothing else from this, he refused to lie to himself he loved her so her marking him as her own was all that would be required to make it to where the others would know that they were future mates, he could not hold back the growl any longer as he felt her moisture seep through her underwear on the his silk pants she shattered right there riding him through his clothing there was nothing that he could to all he wanted there in his arms as he felt her bite down on his chest marking him until the mating that she longed for him that she wanted him and only him for her mate. He knew that the others of her tachi would know but he didn't care he wanted her that was all there was to it. He allowed the mark to heal but scar as he watched her head move against his chest her body shaking so much that he trembled her moan broke through the contact of her mouth against his chest.

"Sesshoumaru!" muffled against his chest as she shattered. There was nothing else in the world but the two of them in that moment, he was connected to her now and that was all that he wanted to night he would wait to take her to heaven real heaven until she had finished what it was that she had set out to do tonight. By morning he would be hers and she would be his he wouldn't wait any longer than that.

"Kagome…" he moaned in her hair as he felt her juices flowing out of her on to his pants he could hardly breathe from the flames of passion that she had called forth in him. He knew that he would have to transfigure them some clean clothes but for now this was all that he wanted. He knew that she would look away from him once she realized what it was that she had just done. He held on to her tightly as he focused on contain the fires that raged in his blood right at the moment, he didn't want to scare her with the power that she had brought out in him the amount of sheer passion and the force that he barely contained that force that wanted to drive his sword so deep into her that there was no beginning or ending for either one of them. He held his eyes tightly shut as she continued to slow her breathing down against the open wound to his chest, her change complete and he wasn't at all drained form the fact that she had been taking his blood for some time now. He was relaxed and at peace even though his body was raging his sword so hard that he thought it might burst from the force of passion that she had awakened in him. He wouldn't take her not now it wouldn't be right. He couldn't do that to her she had to know that he wanted what it was that she was asking for and what it was that she had become to him right in that moment. She might not love him but their auras had told him that she did, would she take what she had asked for he wondered when he told her that he wanted it to?

"Are you all right Sesshoumaru?" she asked as she moved her mouth away from his chest licking on last time to heal the cut to his chest. That was when she saw what she had done. "Did I do that to you? Are you hurt? I am sorry I didn't know what it was that I was doing I felt so much I wanted something I am so sorry."

"I am not mad at what you have done mai kokoro I wanted you to. I am not hurt. I like the fact that you marked me. I would return the favor but I don't want to force you into this. For now just know that any female youkai that were to approach me would know that only you have right to touch me."

"You mean?"

"Yes I mean that you have asked to marry me in a way you have asked me to mate with you. I have no problem with that. I wanted to give you the pleasure that I could tell you were feeling and though right at this moment it isn't wise for you to move I will not take advantage of the situation."

"You mean that you wanted to do the mating right now?"

"Yes Kagome you have driven me to the point that I have to control the baser side of my youkai so that I don't do that. Don't worry though I will not take you as mate now I will wait until after the jewel is finished so that we have our whole lives to explore how we feel for each other. You are a kirie youkai; I would be honored to be your mate. Your heart so pure your love so strong I will wait for you to tell me that you love me know that I feel that for you though the words are hard for me to say."

"You want what this means not just because of the jewel?"

"Yes Kagome I do and I will wait until after the battle that we will be in tonight to take that."

"You mean that, you feel that for me?"

"Yes I do Kagome and I will for the rest of my life."

"Well then I guess that you should bite me as well." Her smile was radiant.

"If I were to do that now I might not stop there. Leave it where it is and know that before the sun rises I will give to you what it was that you were looking for only a moment ago."

"All right. Now what is this training that you were talking about we don't have much time I want to finish Naraku."

"All that requires is that you and I hold the Tenseiga together with our palms bleeding together and you will know all that I do in fighting styles and techniques. All that is demonic you will know after that is finished."

"Lets do this I want to tell the others that I am leaving and pick up my son I don't want to leave him with them they will not watch over him ask I do he needs me."

"That is fine with me. Here take my sword and bleed with me."

************TRAINING************

"You mean this one?" she asked as she reached between them and grabbed his throbbing sword, the proof of his desire for her. Her gentle hands sending shock waves though body. His eyes closed and a low deep growl broke through his lips. Kagome looked up at his face she had known that he was talking about the Tenseiga that he held out to his side but she had wanted to grab the one that she did. There was no reason that he should have to deal with the effects of her actions.

"Kagome if you don't let go you and I will not leave this area until tomorrow night that I can swear to you." His voice strained to the point of almost breaking it was taking all the power that he had to contain the urge to move himself further into her gentle touch on his sword.

"You should not suffer."

"I wasn't before I can control that part of me but with your touch it makes things much harder, pun intended."

"I know that you need release just as I did why not take what I am offering to you?"

"We have a battle to win tonight even you said that you wanted to do that."

"It can wait one more night."

"No Kagome you made a choice and I will not allow you to change your mind about this. Please mai kokoro release me and take the Tenseiga into your grip and bleed with me. Give me this and I can guarantee you will not regret allowing this to wait for now."

"All right but I don't like to think that you are in pain because of my pleasure." She whispered as she took the sword in both hands and ran them down the blade causing the blade to cut her hands. He did the same and once they were both bleeding he took one of her hands into his and left the other on top of hers on the blade. He felt his knowledge flowing into her as she took in a deep breath her now silvery blue eyes looked up at him in wonder at the amount of knowledge that he was granting her. He knew that she had thought that he had only planned to teach her the basics but he was teaching her all that he knew so that she would be able to stand at his side and blend her power with his own as they fought Naraku tonight. Her eyes were wide in wonder she knew what he was doing and she appreciated what it mean to the two of them. The sword glowed in their hands as the flow of knowledge ebbed. They knew that the transfer was complete. That was all that mattered he had done what he needed to, to make sure that she would be able to help him defeat the hanyou.

"Sesshoumaru why did you give to me all that you knew?"

"You will be able to blend your powers pure and youkai with mine so that we will be able take out Naraku forever. I know that you didn't expect this but I can tell you that you need it and you are now as powerful as me. Are you ready to change your clothing so that we can retrieve your son and go take care of that nasty hanyou?"

"You mean right now?"

"Yes."

"But I don't have any new clothes?"

"I can transfigure them for you."

"You mean you have more powers than you have ever told us?"

"Yes and you now have them too."

"Well lets do this I want my son and I want to start my life over with you. You do know that I will not be able to return to the others after we mate right?"

"Why not?"

"They will attack you."

"Let them try it I will be at your side no matter if you take me as your mate or not you are my life that is all I want."

"All right. Lets get dressed and get my son we need to move on with our lives."

"Do you realize that we might have to see Inuyasha and Kikyou while we are there right?"

"Yes I know and I know that you will not let him hurt me again."

"So you are ready to do this?"

"Yes I am let's do this. I know that no matter what happens when I get there that you and my son will always be with me."

"You have a daughter now too remember that."

"You mean Rin?"

"Yes I do she is at the palace with Jaken and I must return soon to assure the safety of my lands but I will stay at your side no matter what happens."

"When we beat Naraku we will return to youe palace so that you can do what it is that you need to do."

"Tonight you will be mine."

"I know and that is all that I care about."

"Stand in front of me mai kokoro and we will do this."

"As you wish for tonight."

He stood tall in front of her as she did him. Her pelt hanging from her shoulder, she changed it into a long velvet cape so that it would be out of the way when she walked with him but that still didn't take away from the blood that still covered her frail frame. He closed his golden eyes and the silver of his innate magic flowed over her. She watched as they were both covered in it and their clothing changed into clean ones that matched. His and hers were black with silver moons and stars on the shoulder and the cuffs. Their belts were midnight blue also with moons and stars on them. Her feet were covered in the softest but most sturdy black suede boots so that her feet were once again protected. Her pelt had moved out of the way so that the clothing could take its place over her body. Once he was finished he looked at her.

On her face was a silver moon similar to the blue ones on his face. She had midnight blue stripes on her cheeks and he knew that they would also be on her wrists hips and ankles. He wanted to reach out and take her right there. The sight of his colors on her was almost too much to take but he knew that he had to wait. He had waited for 5 years what was a little more time in the total scheme of things.

"They are beautiful Sesshoumaru."

"They are yours never to be given to another." His voice low telling her that there was much more to the colors that he had chosen for their cloths.

"What do the colors mean Sesshoumaru?"

"They are the colors of the west Kagome."

"You mean you have placed your colors on me tonight?"

"Yes Kagome you are to be the Lady of the West why not give you the colors as you should have them. It is only a matter of time before I finish what you started."

"I see what you mean Sesshoumaru lets get my son and take care of that nasty hanyou."

"We will fly there."

"Which way?" she asked him realizing that there were several ways that he could fly.

"Your choice we both know the fastest way."

"Then lets take the Sphere of Light that you taught me so that we can get this over with."

"Couldn't agree with you more. Remember no matter what they say it is your life and you can do with it what you chose."

"They will not like the fact that I am taking you as my mate."

"I know this but remember it isn't them that I am taking. They will come around in time."

"I know I just hope that it doesn't take them too long."

"I know that."

Then one sphere of white and one of blue formed in the clearing that they had been in. Sesshoumaru knew that Inuyasha were he there would notice the change in his scent Kagome had marked him and in doing so had mingled her scent with his own. Sesshoumaru knew that the hanyou would be pissed off but hey he was itching for a fight with the hanyou so that would give him the chance to do it. Inuyasha needed to pay for what he had done to Kagome and the kitsune for the past 5 years and if they didn't come with them to take care of Naraku then he would make sure that the baka that shared his bloodline would pay for it. It would not be pretty or swift either it would be painful or torture and Sesshoumaru knew that he would enjoy every second of it.

************A TRUE MARKING************

They flew quickly knowing that Kagome would have to face the others. Sesshoumaru could feel the anxiety in her that she tried to hide from him. He placed his sphere next to hers and continued to fly that way hoping that his closeness was enough to comfort her. He didn't care what it was that the others thought about what had happened to the two of them all he cared about was Kagome and the battle that they both knew was coming tonight. He loved her he knew that and didn't want the others to put her in pain but there was a good chance that that was what was going to happen tonight. He could only hope that her son would have no problem that she was now a youkai and that he would be at her side.

"Sesshoumaru I might need to go to them on my own you know I don't want you to get hurt." Her voice soft as she thought about the reactions of the others that she had come to see as family in her time here. Now they were the only family that she had left.

"Kagome they will have to get used to seeing me at your side from now on. I will not leave you to face their words alone. You don't need the pain that those same words can and more than likely will cause you."

"I can handle their words I don't think that I can take their rejection of the fact that you want to be with me now."

"No matter what they say it will not change things you know that Kagome. You should know by now that I will not leave you and I will not change my mind. The only reason that it has taken me so long to come to your side was that my brother was there not all that long ago now I don't care I want to be with you. You need me and I need you that is all there is to it. Let me stay at your side. Besides my brother is there I can smell him from here you will not face him alone." His voice gentle he didn't want to anger her but he did want her to understand that she would have him at her side no matter what it would take for him to be there.

"I am not angry Sesshoumaru I know that you want to stay by my side but you know your brother better than I do you know what he will do the moment he knows that you are with me."

"Kagome you know that what he did to you would have killed you had I not come upon you when I did. He deserves what he will get if he even thinks about harming you again. Right now I can kill him for even harming you in the first place."

"I know that I don't want you to."

"Why not?"

"Don't think that I love him he is like a brother to me and I don't want to see you have to deal with that kind of pain and though you will tell me that it wont hurt you I know that in your heart it will. Leave him be he will find a way to get his own and I don't think that it will take all that long for it to hit him." She said as she landed right outside of the village that they were going to, to get her son and for her to tell the others that she was leading them tonight.

"All right for you for now I will not harm him. But should he touch you there is nothing that you can do to prevent me from harming him."

"If he hurts me while you are there then I have no problems with that."

"I mean if he even approaches you. You don't have to listen to him or deal with him anymore."

"I know I have to deal with the other inu." She smiled as she took his hand they had reverted back to their human forms so that they could enter the village.

"Funny Kagome I am not the only other inu I am the only inu for you." His voice full of the promise that there would be more of the earlier pleasure that she had felt with him.

"Will you smell different to Inuyasha?" she asked as she thought about earlier and her marking Sesshoumaru. From what she had learned from him there would be a way for Inuyasha to know what she had done earlier to Sesshoumaru.

"Yes but I don't care I wanted it and you did it that is all that there is to it. But know this I might have to mark you tonight while we are here so that he will leave you alone you know that right?"

"You mean so that he will be harmed in even touching me?"

"Yes Kagome I wouldn't have to do a thing but I didn't want to put you in pain earlier."

"You wouldn't have to touch him to put him in pain anyway Sesshoumaru but perhaps is wouldn't be such a bad idea to do it I mean he did mark Kikyou in front of me the other day though how Naraku can touch her is beyond me."

"Inuyasha didn't get marked by her it isn't a true mark."

"I see so if you give me one it is a true mark for I marked you first."

"Right."

"If it comes to it, do it all right I don't want you two fighting as it is we will be doing that enough on our own tonight."

"Did you ever think that the others of your tachi other than my baka brother might join you?"

"No I didn't."

"Well Kagome they are here."

"I see that." She sighed heavily knowing that there were going to be a lot of questions and though she had all of the answers she wasn't sure that she really wanted to be here. Sesshoumaru tightened his grip on her hand and tried to reassure her that she wasn't here alone and comfort her she never would be again.

************RETURNING TO THE OTHERS ************

The couple stood tall in front of the coming tachi. Neither one of them was sure what would happen but they knew that they would deal with it together. Kagome's heart began to race when she felt Inuyasha running toward her and Sesshoumaru. She didn't want them to fight and she knew that that was what Inuyasha had on his mind. She could feel her son Shippou searching out for her. He was startled when he realized that the black inuyoukai in front of him was really Kagome his mother. He tilted his head a little then jumped from the shoulder of the houshi and ran to her. He knew that something major had to have happened to her for her to be changed into an inuyoukai by Sesshoumaru. He didn't feel any anger from Sesshoumaru or any threat as he ran to his mother. Inuyasha had come back and told the others that Kagome had gone home but Shippou could smell the lie in the air but didn't say anything about it too afraid that he would again be hit by the hanyou. Shippou stopped right in front of Kagome and looked up at her the others of the group ran to meet her face to face. Inuyasha stood there taking in the scents of the two inuyoukai in front of him. It seemed to him that Sesshoumaru had finally found a mate but there was something about her that seemed familiar to the hanyou as he stared at her.

"Mom?" asked Shippou as he stood there in front of her

"Yes Shippou it is I Kagome."

"What happened?" asked the kitsune as he leapt into her waiting open arms

"Sesshoumaru changed me." She said softly she would tell them if she didn't have to about what the hanyou had done to her.

"You ano joro me. I swear you can't keep your legs shut for anything can you?" demanded the hanyou when he realized that Sesshoumaru had a hint of Kagome's scent mixed in with his own.

"You talk about things that you know nothing about." Came the calm cold voice of Sesshoumaru as he placed his hand behind Kagome's back to calm her down. He had known that this would be the response of his brother.

"What the hell ever you yarou I can smell her scent in yours though she was smart she didn't allow you to mark her." Smiled the hanyou

"What do you mean I didn't allow him to mark me? Not yet you baka, we are waiting." Kagome asked her temper raging. How dare he suggest that she had done that all ready?

"Kagome I know that we talked about this earlier but . . . . " suggested Sesshoumaru as he continued to hold her back. He could smell the unshed tears that she tired hard to hide from him.

"Not yet." She whispered to him as she continued to hold her son. She looked to the others around her; she had to know what they thought about this. "Sango Miroku what do you think of the fact that I am now youkai?" she asked she could only hope that they would be more understanding of the situation.

"Can you still purify the Jewel?" asked Miroku knowing that as long as Sesshoumaru didn't change her heart and soul that she could but he wanted to know for sure.

"Yes I have retained my human soul and heart. Though why that is the question that you would ask me is strange."

"I had to know. I accept you Kagome. You have marked him are you serious?"

"Yes I am."

"You can't purify the Jewel!" Came a voice just now walking into the area that they were all in. The smell of dirt and funeral herbs stung Kagome's nose as she stood there beside Sesshoumaru. Shippou knowing that this might get out of hand and that he would be in the way for his mother moved to her shoulder and hid in her hair the only thing that you could see of the kit were his bright emerald eyes as they peeked out from under the knee length black curtain of her hair.

"Yes I can you pathetic excuse for flesh." Growled Kagome as she took one step toward Kikyou wanting to injure the bitch just as she had her earlier.

"Kagome not now." Said Sesshoumaru gently as he moved with her.

"No you cant you are youkai now. Youkai can't even keep the jewel with out it being tainted." Laughed Kikyou

"Wrong miko I can tell you that Kagome can and will purify the Shikon No Tama tonight and she will complete it. You have no idea what you are talking about." Growled Sesshoumaru as he looked at the clay pot that his stupid brother had almost mated.

"What are you talking about Sesshoumaru she doesn't have it all yet." Laughed Inuyasha as he continued to stare at Kagome. He knew quite well why Sesshoumaru had changed her he had had to Kagome had almost died tonight and though deep in the darkest pit of his heart he felt bad about it he didn't want to feel that way.

"Tonight she will." Said Sesshoumaru his voice like ice as he watched his brother feeling the emanate attack from the hanyou.

"You can't be saying what I think it is that you are Sesshoumaru." Said Sango as she looked at the taiyoukai and his intended her sister Kagome.

"That is exactly what my intended is saying Sango tonight he and I will be fighting Naraku to finish this and I am here only to get my son and ask you if you are coming if not then he and I will leave here and finish what the hanyou and I started so long ago. It is time that I moved on with my life and now I can." Said Kagome as she watched Kikyou not trusting the clay pot any further that she could throw her.

"You are asking them if they want to join you? Are you stupid Kagome they cant do anything you know that they are both useless." Smiled Inuyasha

"I don't think so Inuyasha. I know that Sango and Miroku have helped us out more than I would ever think that they could and now that I am youkai I can see the real power that they hold. If they wish they can come with us. You can stay here and bury your dick in the ground for all I care." Growled Kagome as she moved her hand up a little anticipating what was coming next.

"You fucking slut how dare you talk to me like that!" yelled Inuyasha as he ran the last two steps to her.

Sesshoumaru like lightning moved and intercepted the hanyou throwing him into a nearby tree. Kagome saw that Kikyou was about to release and arrow that she hadn't seen in the dark toward Sesshoumaru and using her miko abilities the ones that Sesshoumaru had known quite a bit about she pushed the arrow into another tree not all that far from the hanyou. Sesshoumaru then stood at Kagome's side once again and looked at the others of the tachi knowing what their next questions would be and could only hope that Kagome told them the truth so that they could chose on their own who to follow.

"What happened to cause him to change you Kagome?" asked the houshi knowing that she would have to have been at deaths door when Sesshoumaru had started the changing process.

"Are you sure that you really want to know?" asked Kagome not looking forward to answering that question.

"Kagome they need to know it is their choice after all." Whispered Sesshoumaru as he moved behind her and slid his arms around her waist as Shippou moved to his shoulder instead.

"Tell us he is right it is our choice as to what it is that we do." Said Sango as she moved closer to Kagome

"All right here it is. I went to the well tonight to think about some things. While I was there Inuyasha and Kikyou showed up I didn't think anything about it at first but then Kikyou put a barrier around me and Inuyasha stood at her side as she closed the well. He then returned and struck me with his claws enough that had Sesshoumaru not shown up when he did after they left I would have died tonight from Inuyasha's claws. That is how I came to be this way." She answered the couple standing in front of her.

"So he attacked you once before tonight." Stated Miroku knowing that the attack would have been enough for her to change tonight.

"Yes Sango and I talked to Sesshoumaru I found out how he felt about me and that Inuyasha has lied about him for some time now. Anyway Sesshoumaru and I are going to become full mates after we defeat Naraku and I have the Shikon No Tama." Said Kagome

"You two are sure that you can do it alone?" asked Miroku

"I am sure that my intended and I can kill the hanyou she is simply asking if you would like to assist us in taking out all of the other trash that he is going to send out to us so that we can take on the major player in this fight." Said Sesshoumaru calmly as he looked over the couple in front of him. They had all ready made up their minds when they had heard what Inuyasha had done to Kagome but they wanted to be reassured.

"We will join you tonight though I don't think that we will be welcome back here for a long time." Grinned Sango as she held her arms out to Kagome.

************THE MARKING OF KAGOME************ WARNING: BLOOD PLAY!

"You have a home if I do." Said Kagome as she looked back at Sesshoumaru who nodded his consent. He would allow the taijiya and the houshi to stay in the palace once this was over. She instantly turned and hugged the taiyoukai in front of the others she then got up on her toes since she was still shorter than Sesshoumaru and wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down for a heated kiss. She didn't care that the others were watching them she wanted to make sure that he knew that she was happy that he had done that for her. He growled lightly as she kissed him her fangs scraping the tender flesh of his lip. He opened his mouth knowing that that was what she wanted she slipped her tongue into his mouth and rubbed her tongue against one of his fangs. The light growl got lower and deeper in his chest as she once again lit the flames of passion in him. He tightened his grip on her showing her that he wanted much more than he would do in front of the others telling her that she had once again awakened his deep desire for her. She smiled against his lips and pulled back slowly. She looked into his eyes with promise that this would not stop later tonight and he knew that he would make her keep that promise.

"I love you Sesshoumaru. Mark me as your intended; show the hanyou the truth of your feelings for me. Prove to the others that what I have said about you is true. Mark me and don't feel regret my gin tenshi."

"As you ask so shall it be." His eyes were rimmed in red as he looked down into her also red rimmed eyes, Shippou ran for cover knowing that this was going to be very intense for the two sitting where he had been the scent of their arousal had almost hurt his nose then again his mother and now soon to be father loved each other and this was the way that things were for inuyoukai. Shippou moved to the shoulder of the taijiya and watched as the black shirt that had been on his mother fell open under the skillful hands of the silver inuyoukai as his mother placed her arms around his waist knowing that she would have to bend in half almost to allow him to reach where the mark should go. Usually the marking was very private but this was a way for Sesshoumaru to prove to all that he meant what he had said and that he would take Kagome as his mate.

The others watched as Sesshoumaru pulled Kagome up in front of him he was changing the position that he would mark her in. Sango knew that Kagome would have bowed as she was supposed to but Sesshoumaru not wanting to see her bow had picked her up and held her pale mound up to his face right above her heart. Sango knew that though this was unique as was the youkai that was being marked it would stand true. No one there would able to say that this marking was not a real one. Sesshoumaru licked the spot that he would have to bite. Kagome was looking down at Sesshoumaru the love evident in her eyes he was looking up her the same shining in his eyes. The love that they shared almost brought tears to the taijiyas eyes as she watched them. The simple sight of the two in front of her was enough to cause Sango some discomfort as she looked away right at the man that she wished would do that to her. She instantly turned flaming red and returned her gaze to the couple in front of her. Sesshoumaru again licked the area that he would have to bite Kagome still looked down at him with her eyes full of love and understanding as she saw the regret for the pain that he was about to inflict upon her in his eyes. He lowered his gaze to the area of the mark she was so slight that holding her like this up in the air looking down on him didn't affect him in the slightest. He placed his lips on the pale skin that he would have to mark and kissed it gently then sucking in his breath knowing that this would be intensely pleasurable for the both of them closed his eyes and bit down hard on her breast. She moaned in pleasure her head falling back her hair flowing like a black waterfall her eyes closed in almost rapture as he suckled her breast taking in her blood as she had done to him. The taste was enough to drive him mad almost but he remembered that they still had a battle tonight and though right now he would give almost anything to take her right there he controlled himself and sucked just enough of her blood and placed just enough of his own to make the mark permanent. She was marked as his now. Her hands were tangled in his hair as she moved herself against his chest. He knew what it was that she was feeling he could feel the heat pouring from her, he could smell her moisture as her flower prepared for him but he wouldn't do it not now. He just wanted to mark her that was all. He slowly pulled back from the mark on her breast and licked the wound closed this had to be done and she was right this was the only real way to prove to the ningen around him that he did indeed want Kagome and that he was not as his brother had said for so long that he was.

He slid her body down his own slowly taking in the feel of every inch of her that slid down him. Once her feet were back on the ground he watched as she bit her lip with a fang and allowed some of her blood to pool in her mouth, he did the same knowing that this was also a part of the marking consent if you will to the fact that they were now intended and soul mates. The mark over the heart was that of the intention of mating the exchange of blood through a kiss was the acceptance of your soul mate. He knew that the only way she had known about this was the fact that she had his knowledge of demonic rituals. He ran his fang along his lip and allowed his blood to pool in his mouth as well. He then pulled her into a brutal kiss of passion as he allowed his beast to take in the taste of that which was now only a few hours from being his own. He controlled the passion but it was to the point now that had his pants not been as loose as they were everyone there would see the proof of his desire to take her right there as it was only the hanyou and the kitsune would know how much he wanted his mate right now. He pushed the blood in his mouth into hers then she pushed it all into his, they then drank from the lips of each other the true binding blood of soul mates.

Kagome was now marked in many many more ways that just the twin fang marks on her pale breast. No one would ever be able to touch her if they had physical pleasure in mind for the rest of her life and his. She was his now and he was hers well as much as they could be right at the moment but both of them didn't care that they had an audience they wanted to finish this but their honor would not allow then to do it when they had a battle to win. Once this kiss was finished they pulled back from the other and placed their heads together silver moon to midnight blue moon helping the other control the raging fires of their love for each other. Once their heart slowed down no longer racing to feed the fires of their passion they pulled from the other and Sesshoumaru helped Kagome return her shirt to normal. His hands were steady while hers were still a little shaky but then again she had just been marked and had no idea before hand how intense it was to receive the mark they had been alone when he had been marked this time she couldn't scream his name out into the night they had the others there with them.

They turned hand in hand to the others that surrounded them with the exception of Kikyou and Inuyasha who were preparing yet another attack on the couple. They didn't want Kagome to be youkai she had to be mortal for them to get the last piece of Kikyou's soul. They didn't see the soul mating that had just taken place but the others around them had. They knew that should Inuyasha or Kikyou touch either of the inuyoukai in front of them they might as well call hell and make a reservation. The tachi moved to stand beside Sesshoumaru and Kagome they knew where they should be and that was where they would be. Granted they weren't youkai but they knew that their friend was doing all that she could to maintain the parts of her that were still human and she might need them from time to time to remind her that though she now had the body of a youkai that she was still a human heart and soul.

"You two need to get a room you know that then again I can see that she is hot. Hell Sesshoumaru if you get tired of bedding her send her my way I think I can take that once or twice before I get bored with it." Laughed Inuyasha as he moved closer to the couple.

"You will not say such things about the Lady of the West." Growled Sesshoumaru knowing what it was that the hanyou was up to.

"Hey she was a weak miko and now you have a weak inuyoukai wanna be. You sure out did dad didn't you!" laughed Inuyasha

"You will be silent now Inuyasha and know that the only reason that I have not punished you for attacking Kagome in the first place was that she asked me to spare your pathetic life."

"Sesshoumaru is a fucking softy now?" laughed the hanyou as his eyes began to change. Kikyou was muttering something behind his back as he stood there talking shit to the others in front of him.

"Sesshoumaru look at his jaki and his eyes he is changing and Kikyou is the one behind it." Whispered Kagome as she continued to look at the couple in front of her.

"I know Kagome and I know that you don't want me to hurt him but this time I might not have a choice." Sighed Sesshoumaru as he placed a hand on the hilt of Tokijin. He knew that this might be what his father had warned him about with his little brother all he could do was hope that Inuyasha would snap out of it before Sesshoumaru had to kill him. Though he didn't really want to kill his brother he would to protect what he called his own. Strange that those were the same words that his father had said to him the night that he had died protecting this same hanyou and his human mother. Sesshoumaru sighed a little then pulled the Tokijin from its sheath and readied himself for the attack that he knew quite well was coming.

Kagome pulled her power in to fore so that she could help Sesshoumaru subdue Inuyasha but she knew that she would have to deal with Kikyou so that the spell that she had cast on Inuyasha would stop the only two ways to do that were to kill the caster or severely injure them so that the spell would no longer be cast. She watched as her fingers glowed a silvery blue color her claws were oozing some light purple fluid from them she knew that this was her youkai poison and though she didn't want to use it she knew that there was a chance that she would have to, to stop Kikyou. The others pulled their weapons out to assist the two inuyoukai but they were sure that they wouldn't be needed in this fight. Sesshoumaru was more than strong enough to take on Inuyasha and Kagome was much more powerful than Kikyou even before she had become and inuyoukai so all they had to do was protect Shippou. The two inuyoukai would take care of everything else. Inuyasha ran toward Sesshomaru, as did Kikyo to Kagome. The first battle of the night was under way.

************THE WORDS OF INUNOTAISHO************

Sesshomaru knew that this was going to be a long battle with his brother. He had no doubt that they would have to put off going after Naraku until the next morning. He could only hope that Kagome wasn't all that upset about the fact that they were both going to be a little drained from this fight tonight. Then again it did seem a little convenient that Inuyasha would choose tonight to start fighting with Kagome and Sesshomaru at the same time. He looked over at Kagome who was using the talents that he had taught her and was slowly walking around Kikyo looking for an opening so that the fight between them wouldn't take all that long. She was trying to save her energy knowing that she wanted to take care of Naraku tonight. Kikyo was by far out matched by Kagome so he returned his attention to Inuyasha. This was not going to be like their other battles he would have to be careful there was no telling what Inuyasha would do when he was in his full form. Inuyasha ran straight at him something that he normally did something that Sesshomaru was expecting but what Inuyasha didn't know was that Sesshomaru could see the moves that Inuyasha was going to use right before he used them in his full form he telegraphed what he was going to do much more than he did in his hanyou form. Sesshomaru sidestepped the running hanyou and tripped him thinking that perhaps he would be able to get the Tetsusaiga and hit his brother with it and force it into his hands. That was the only way that Sesshomaru knew for sure to stop Inuyasha when he was like this. He heard a scream and turned for a moment to see Kagome hit Kikyo with a bolt of sacred power the spell on Inuyasha weakened but it had all ready done the job that it had. He watched Kagome put a barrier around Kikyo and hold her there silent and stupid as he continued to fight his little brother. Suddenly the words from his father rang through his mind as he watched his little brother get up off of the ground and swipe at the blood coming from his mouth.

_"My son always remember that your brother doesn't know himself once he sees who he is he must make a choice and you will have to be there for him to see the pointlessness of the wrong one. Stay strong and know that should he make the wrong choice that you will have to prevent further blood shed."_

Sesshomaru knew that this was the time that his father was talking about. Inuyasha had to choose to either stay a hanyou or to die as a youkai that was out of control and rabid at this point. How though could he get through to his brother the importance of this one choice? Inuyasha lived from moment to moment and there was no way to really talk to him right now. Though he knew that it was his responsibility he didn't want the task he didn't want his brothers blood on his hands. Kagome had been right when she had said that it would cause him pain. To think that one of his own blood was an all out rabid beast was something that Sesshomaru didn't want to think about.

"Inuyasha you don't want to do this." Said Sesshomaru calmly as he again dodged his brothers' foolish attack.

"Yes I do you have everything and I am going to take it from you." Growled the drooling hanyou as he again recklessly attacked Sesshomaru.

"No you aren't I wont let you Inuyasha. You couldn't even handle the responsibility of ruling the Western Lands. You don't really want what I have Inuyasha you know that." Said Sesshomaru as he again moved out of the way and blocked the claws that Inuyasha was using with the Tokijin.

"I don't care about that I want your power." Said Inuyasha

"You don't realize that Tetsusaiga gives you the same power that I have." Said Sesshomaru again moving out of the way of a flying hanyou

"I want to be a youkai no matter what the cost."

"Look at yourself brother and see what being youkai has done to you. You don't want to be like this."

"I want the power I want to belong you will not see me as an equal until I am youkai."

"Why does my acceptance mean so much to you?" asked Sesshomaru still moving out of the way of the hanyou attacks

"You knew father and knew what he wanted from us you are the only link to him that I have you yarou."

"I am not a bastard as you have said I knew our father but Inuyasha just because I did doesn't change who I am. You must remember what your mother was like. Mine left me as a child. You are a drooling beast right now that should be put down and if I have to then that is what I will do father always told me that you had a choice to make and now is that moment. If you continue this or harm what is mine I will have no choice but to do what I don't really want to do." Said Sesshomaru the ice starting to return to his voice. He would have to shut himself down in order to do this and he didn't want to he had just been given the gift of freedom and here he was loosing it again at the hands of his brother not his father but the difference was insignificant to Sesshomaru he was still loosing it all again.

**************SESSHOMARU'S MOTHER**************

"What the hell are you talking about Sesshomaru I know about my mother and what the fucking hell is this choice that you are going to make me make tonight?"

"You have to chose to either be the beast that should be dead in front of me or you can choose to be the hanyou the one that all of these people know the one that can stand at my side again if only he realizes the truth of things before it is too late."

"What does that mean?" asked Inuyasha as he stopped attacking Sesshomaru suddenly.

"It means that I can help you train you. You can be at my side I would not allow it before because you had no idea who you were. Look at yourself and see who you really are little brother for right now this moment is all that you have to make that choice. Kagome can not save you right now, your friends no matter how much they might want to cant either, your mate who should in her own way be dead and gone can't either, you have to make this choice on your own and understand that the wrong one will be the end of you."

"For so long Sesshomaru I have been in your shadow. I am tired of being what you think that I am. I feel worthless when I am around you. I don't understand what you are telling me though I have a feeling that I wont like it. Do you have any idea what it is like to have you as an older brother?" asked the hanyou who was still drooling but listening to Sesshomaru

"No I don't but I do know what it was like to live in fathers shadow and believe me that he had a much bigger one than I do. I am always compared to him and his greatness. You have no idea what it was like to have the back of his hand until you were born then I didn't even have that. Once your mother came into the picture I was all but lost to him."

"What do you mean you lived with him in the palace."

"No I didn't I moved out and built my own long before you came into the picture Inuyasha I have been on my own since I was 100 years old."

"Now I know that you are lying Sesshomaru. Even youkai in youkai years you were only about 10 physically at the most." Said Inuyasha still drooling

"Father and I didn't get along I looked up to him for his power but I didn't want to be as weak as he was your mother was not the first human that he had had and it was a human that killed my mother and my unborn sister in the palace one night thinking that it was his wife who had been with father just that night." Said Sesshomaru his voice soft hiding the pain that only Kagome could feel coming from him.

"No father told my mother that you mother committed suicide at the thought of you becoming heartless." Snapped Inuyasha

"No father never knew what happened to my mother I am the only one that did Inuyasha do you know why I know and he didn't?"

"Why?" spit the hanyou

"He was out with another ningen that night. Mother and I were left unguarded in the palace that night I watched her die. She bled to death in my arms. Father was no where to be found."

"You mean?"

"Yes Inuyasha that is exactly what I meant. I never have told anyone what happened to mother only the people here now know how my mother died."

"Father didn't care about it did he?"

"He thought that what I told him was true my mother had taught me to hide what it was that I was feeling so well by then that he didn't even know the day that he died to save your mother that my little brother was the difference between your mother and mine. Father loved yours and hated mine. She was the means to an end. He didn't even grieve for her once she was gone though should you and your mother have died that night I know that he would have. Leave the past in the past deal with the present Inuyasha what is your choice?"

"Father told you to make me chose or to kill me didn't he?"

"I will not tell you what it was that father said about this night but you still have to chose." Said Sesshomaru still holding his sword in defense in case the hanyou attacked again.

"You are willing to train me?"

"Yes."

"You know how to help me with this?"

"Pull the Tetsusaiga."

"It has never taken me back when I am like this."

"Yes it has and it will now. Fathers greatest weapon can do many more things than even I know pull it and save yourself or die tonight I can not let you run through the country killing innocents." Whispered Sesshomaru as he watched his brother closely.

"You mean what you have said?" asked the hanyou not sure to trust his brother.

"Yes."

"How can I trust you?" asked Inuyasha

"You are the one that believes in heart look into mine and tell me that I am lying to you now." Said Sesshomaru

**************BETRAYED**************

While the others watched the two brothers talking to each other Kikyo had other things in mind. She focused all of her meager sacred powers on the shield that Kagome had put around her she had to get Inuyasha to kill Sesshomaru. Naraku could take out Kagome with just a thought but to have Sesshomaru standing at her side would make it almost impossible to kill the now inuyoukai miko. Kikyo knew that Kagome had always had more power than she did but that wasn't the reason that she had teamed up with Naraku. She had joined him so that she could once again get the jewel so that she herself could come back to life. She wanted the power of the jewel from herself unlike in her first life this time she wanted to use it on herself. She had teamed up with Naraku to get the shards from Kagome more than once but for some reason either Sesshomaru or Inuyasha were always there at the start then Kikyo played the hanyou and the feelings that he still had for her to allow her to get close enough to Kagome so that she could steal it but then again there was always something happening to the young miko who now had been given a great gift of immortality as long as her pretty little head didn't get chopped off. Well there were other ways to kill her but that thought was more than enough to get Kikyo all wet and hot about taking her revenge on the pure miko at her side, who was focused on the conversation between the two brothers. Once Kikyo had enough energy pooled she then opened the barrier that Kagome had put on her so that sound could escape it and enter it. She began chanting again in a breathless whisper as she once again pulled the youkai blood out in Inuyasha.

She smiled a little. The hanyou had fallen face first into the trap that she and Naraku had set for him. She had needed the blood link to Inuyasha so that she could cast this particular spell and to think that he thought that she still loved him. She grinned at the thought that the love sick hanyou had turned his back on the only woman in the world who saw him as more than a pathetic waste of space to be with the one that thought he was nothing more than an insect that she could and would crush under her feet. She knew that Sesshomaru would more than likely get in a lethal blow to Inuyasha but she didn't care as long as Sesshomaru died there was nothing that the inuyoukai miko could do to prevent the death that she and Naraku had planned for her.

To the others it seemed that Sesshomaru was getting through to the hanyou. He walked a step closer to his brother careful of the distance between them making sure that Sesshomaru didn't see him as any kind of threat so that he could look into the once cold eyes of his older brother. Everyone there held their breath as they watched the brothers stare at each other. Inuyasha lowered his head and Sesshomaru jumped out of the way of the attack that barely missed his armor. No one there could believe that Inuyasha would have attacked Sesshomaru yet again he had seemed to be understanding what it was that Sesshomaru had been trying to get through to him but then suddenly Sesshomaru jumped and the next thing that anyone knew they were fighting again.

Sesshomaru had done as his father asked of him. Now he would have to finish the task. He shook his head causing his long silver hair to move around him as he again dodged the hanyou. He really didn't want to do this but it would seem as if he had no choice. Sesshomaru knew that he would loose everything with this action but he had to there was no other way to control the hanyou now. With a heart once again hardening into the glacier that it had been before Kagome he put Tokijin away he didn't need it for this if he had to kill his own brother he would do it just as his brother attacked him unarmed that was the least that he could do for his younger brother.

Kagome who had been watching the whole thing suddenly realized what it was that Sesshomaru was doing and knew that if he killed Inuyasha he would be lost to her for millennia she didn't want to take that chance. She looked at the barrier around Kikyo and found it to still be intact but she could see the lips of the undead miko moving again. Had she found a way to penetrate the barrier so that sound could escape? Kagome looked at the barrier harder and that was when she found the crack that Kikyo had put into it so that she could continue to cast the spell. Kagome knew that she had to do something or the brothers would kill each other. She dropped the barrier completely and attacked Kikyo again. This had to stop hadn't she caused them all enough pain to last them multiple life times?

Kikyo knew that the whole thing had just been blown out of the water she didn't stand a chance against Kagome while she was casting the spell so she stopped it again and turned to face the inuyoukai miko who had become Kikyo's greatest enemy in that moment. She shot a bolt of sacred energy at Kagome and dodged the one that was aimed at her. Hers made contact with Kagome as she moved from the second one that Kikyo had shot at her. Kagome bit her lip to keep from crying out in pain as the bolt of sacred energy hit her in the shoulder. She didn't want Sesshomaru coming to aid her she would do this on her own he had his hands full dealing with Inuyasha. There was blood coming from her lip and her shoulder she had to get it to stop so that Sesshomaru wouldn't smell it but she was moving slower there was something strange about the bolt that Kikyo had hit her with. Her powers though still strong and ready didn't seem to want to heal fast enough for her to continue fighting the miko. Kagome finally gave up on healing herself and went back to fighting Kikyo.

Kagome ran at the miko and tackled her to the ground. She looked into the eyes of the undead miko under her and realized that she could see the plan that she and Naraku had created to stop them from attacking him and winning,. They wanted to kill Inuyasha and Sesshomaru so that they would only have to deal with her and a couple of ningen. Kagome focused on her claws and the poison once again came to the surface. Her was acidic just like Sesshomarus but hers would only attack organics where his attacked and melted anything. Kagome put one claw over the mikos nose so that her mouth would open the once it did she allowed two drops of her poison to enter the mikos mouth. She then with the same hand held that same mouth shut so that Kikyo would have to swallow the poison that Kagome had just dropped into her mouth. Kagome made sure that the poison did what she wanted it to. Kikyo no longer had a voice. She then took her obi and tied Kikyo up to a tree that was near to her and moved away from the miko so that she could heal herself but when she looked up to see Sesshomaru with his claws in much the same position as her own had been she knew that she had to do something. She knew that Inuyasha was being used against his will and that if she could she had to stop it one-way or the other. She ran to Sesshomaru and Inuyasha and placed her hand on Sesshomarus shoulder calling attention to herself as she placed a minor spell on Inuyasha to keep him immobile for a few minutes.

"Kagome what has happened to you?" asked a concerned Sesshomaru

"Nothing that I cant heal later. Listen Sesshomaru, Kikyo was using him to kill you and you to kill Inuyasha they don't want to face the both of us." She said gently

"By they you mean Naraku and Kikyo I take it?" asked Sesshomaru

"Yes mai gin tenshi."

"So what do you suggest we do with the crazed hanyou I know that Kikyo is tied up to a tree over there."

"Let the blood cool in him and we will talk to him again this time you don't have to watch some one die Sesshomaru."

"You saved my heart once if this works you will have saved it twice you know that Kagome?"

"I don't see it that way, I want you as you are not as the Ice Prince that I have known for so long. I want the man that heated my blood to a fever pitch just minutes ago."

"I am still that man Kagome. Come lets get your wounds healed. Do you know why it is so much harder to heal this one than the other that she gave to you?"

"No why?"

"She used dark magic something that no pure miko could do. I liked the touch of poison down the throat where did that come from I wonder." He asked her smiling a little

"From you Sesshomaru. Can you help me heal this so that later we can take out Naraku I don't want to be like this for too long you know? There are other things that I want to do tonight other than fight a dead miko and a highly over rated hanyou."

"Yes mai kokoro. How long will your spell hold him?"

"For a little while."

"Come here then and allow me to heal you it is the least that I can do considering that I allowed you to get hurt."

"You didn't allow me to get hurt I did it myself by not remembering that she could shot two bolts at once it is my fault that I am injured don't allow the thought that you failed me to enter your mind Sesshomaru. You are alive as am I this will only be a little scratch in a few minutes if I can get it to heal right."

"All right for you I will not allow the thought of failure to enter my mind as far as you are concerned in this matter." He smiled at her.

************INUYASHA'S CHOICE************

Sesshomaru held Kagome tight as he put his hands on the wounds that Kikyo had inflicted on her. He allowed his power to flow through him so that he could heal his intended no she want his intended she was the mate the other half and that was all that he could call her anymore he knew that she would always be at his side. She wouldn't leave him as his father had left his mother. When Kagome loved she did so totally and endlessly whole-heartedly, he would never have a reason to doubt her feelings for him he could only hope that Inuyasha would be all right. He didn't relish the thought of becoming cold to Kagome she needed him to stay open to her with all that she had gone through so far.

"Sesshomaru I am fine relax I know that you are thinking about what might happen if we cant snap him out of it but I know that we can."

""Kagome we might not be able to take on Naraku tonight you know that?"

"Yes but I am pretty sure that when Inuyasha comes around this time he will stay that way. Did you mean what you said about training him?"

"Yes Kagome I did. You know that I will not lie. His training will not be like yours though he will have to learn the hard way."

"I know and he would want it that way."

"Well how long do you think it will take him to come out from under your spell Kagome?"

"In a moment or two he will be able to move this time we will do this together.'

Thank you Kagome I know that you don't want to see him hurt but if we can save him we have to do it soon it wont take long if he is still full to leave us to attack others."

"I know that Sesshomaru trust me and know that he is my friend not my mate my friend only all right?"

"All right Kagome I will trust in that." Sighed Sesshomaru relaxing a bit in her embrace. He knew that her love for others was strong if anyone could salvage his brother it would be her.

Her touch soothed him, made him feel the love that he had longed for, for so long she was his and that was all that he needed to know in that moment. He looked over at his half brother finally seeing what it was that his father meant by the blood in Inuyasha needing the Tetsusaiga but if the sword would not contain him what hope was there? The only thing that could be done should something happen to Inuyasha that caused him to take his full form Sesshomaru knew hat he would more than likely have to kill the hanyou unless there was a away to teach him control over that part of himself.

Sesshomaru stood up gently so that he could help Kagome get up as well she was still a little weak from the attacks of Kikyo. They walked together to face then hanyou who was at that moment coming out from under the spell that Kagome had put on him. It was time to see if he had figured things out on his own so that he could live through the night and though Sesshomaru didn't want to do it he knew that he would be the only one that could should Inuyasha take his full form again. They stood there looking at the torn hanyou as he came to terms with what it was that Sesshomaru had told him. He raised his eyes to the most unlikely couple in the world there was so much that he didn't know about his brother that right now he would do what he could to learn from him and about him so that he could finally find a place in his brothers life. He knew that Kagome wouldn't turn her back on him and if Sesshomaru was mated to Kagome then Sesshomaru wouldn't turn his back on him either she wouldn't let him. Inuyasha knew that Sesshomaru had changed the position of the marking for her but there was a reason for that. Sesshomaru didn't want her to break her spirit to be with him he loved her just as she was. Hopefully his brother could forgive him all of the shit for the past 70 years and they could start over again.

"So have you decided Inuyasha?" asked Sesshomaru

"Yes brother if you will allow me to stand at your side I will." Said Inuyasha cautiously

"You do know that your mate was the one that changed you correct?"

"Yes Sesshomaru and though I know that I can't do it she needs to be dealt with."

"Inuyasha do you know that Kikyo and Naraku were just using you?" asked Kagome as she looked into the hanyou's eyes as the full truth hit him.

"No but thank you for telling me." sighed the hanyou as he looked to the woman that he had loved for so long

"How shall we deal with her?" asked Sesshomaru, "she is your mate Inuyasha."

"No she isn't I know that the pup that she carries isn't mine. I don't care what you do to her but deal with it, it is time to deal with her lover."

"Whom do you wish to take care of this?" asked Sesshomaru as he watched the pain fall on the hanyou's face then the rage and betrayal.

"You choose Sesshomaru I know that she injured Kagome which means that you have as much a right to do something to her as Kagome does."

"Kagome?" asked Sesshomaru

"I will stay with Inuyasha my love take care of this so that we can move out." She said sadly as he pulled her friend up from the ground and began to walk away from him. She knew that Kikyo would never harm anyone again all Sesshomaru had wanted was her permission as it were to deal with the two timing slut and that was fine with her. Inuyasha and Kagome rejoined the others so that he wouldn't have to see what Sesshomaru did to Kikyo.

Sesshomaru at that moment was thankful that Kagome had used the poison on Kikyo's throat that meant that there would be no sound from the miko then again hw was so lethal that there would be no sound in the first place. His claws extended themselves and he moved closer to Kikyo. He didn't say a word to her she knew what she had done and knew that the punishment for that crime was death nothing less. He allowed his sweet smelling poison fill the tips of his claws and ran them across her throat. By morning there would be nothing left of the miko that his brother had loved for 55 years. She had made her own choices and this just happened to be the one that ended her time here again then again she never should have been revived in the first place. Once he was finished he moved from the quickly decaying body back to his mate and the tachi that he now had under him. He shook his head he hadn't planned on taking them all on but hell Kagome was happy that was all that mattered to him. If she saw them as family perhaps in time he would as well. Once he was at Kagome's side they as a group turned from he bones that were disappearing into he ground and began the short journey to Naraku's palace it was time to start their lives over and the only way that they could do that would be to destroy him as well. There had been blood shed tonight and there would be more but Sesshomaru was sure that none of them would be seriously harmed and that they would all be at the western palace by noon. He would have Kagome as his mate fully before the sun hit the horizon again.

Inuyasha and Miroku followed Sesshomaru and Kagome who were in the lead then there was Sango with Kirara and Shippo, the whole group knew what had just happened and though they wanted to celebrate they would wait until Naraku was dead to celebrated he coming together of the two inu brothers. Sango and Miroku knew that Kagome had changed Sesshomaru they just didn't know when that change had taken place they knew that in time they would be told but for now they were jut glad that he was there with them as they left to face off with Naraku for the last time. The brothers had gotten so close to destroying him once before but they didn't have Kagome there to get the shards of the jewel from him so he had been able to regenerate his body again. This time Kagome was there with them and there're was no doubt in the minds of the group that now walked in silence that this would be the last time that they saw Naraku.

************FINAL BATTLE WITH NARAKU************

They approached an old decrepit palace that they all knew had seen better days. No one said a word when Inuyasha pulled the Tetsusaiga from its sheath and sliced down eh weak barrier that Naraku had put around the palace. Kagome cast her own barrier around her friends and her son moved to her shoulder wanting to stay with her no matter what came out of this battle. Inuyasha Sesshomaru and Kagome walked in first, Miroku and Sango knew that they were there to help protect the backs of the main fighters and that they would do with no hesitation. They moved silently they knew that Naraku knew that they were there but they didn't care this time it would all be over that was all that any of them knew or cared about.

Inuyasha stood on Kagome's right Sesshomaru on her left as they walked with purpose to the palace. Naraku came out to greet him with hundred-youkai spawn behind him. The others knew that this was going to be hard but they were determined to finish this. With all of them working together this wouldn't take them long. Sesshomaru and Inuyasha pulled their blades and continued walking toward the hanyou but Kagome who had none focused her power between her hands so that should they need her power to aid them. She had a feeling that she and Sesshomaru would be able to blend their powers so that the strike from Tenseiga would have the added boost of miko power that she could put into it. She looked at her future mate and her brother they nodded to her. It was time at last to take care of the trash and burn the fuck out of it.

"Sesshomaru I see that you want a ningen for a mate a miko nonetheless. Pathetic but I know that your father was weak in that department. You would follow in his footsteps. Just like your brother you know the two of you have more in common than you wished that you did."

"You have nothing to tell us that we want to hear." Said Sesshomaru with ice in his voice

"Where do you think you are going Kagome? You have no reason to be here and what is this you want this ice ass?" asked Naraku.

"He is mine that is all there is to say about that." She answered him looking around her taking in the set up of the battleground she knew what he was doing. He was trying to get their attention away from the movement of the youkai around them. He was surrounding them so that they would be attacked on all sides when he gave the signal to attack. She sighed even Inuyasha realized what it was that Naraku was doing.

"Are you going to fight us or are you going to talk us to death?"

"Stupid hanyou you have no idea where your mate is do you?"

"I know where she is aren't you at all worried that she isn't here with me?"

"What do you mean Inuyasha?"

"I know that the pup that she carried wasn't mine it was yours. So aren't you at least worried about where she is?" asked Inuyasha smiling

"Where is she if you know?"

"I killed her." Stated Sesshomaru

"Why did you do that?"

"She attacked that which was mine and my brother was put under a spell by her there were many reasons for me to kill her but I will tell you that not a sound made it from her throat as my mate took her voice from her."

"She can't hurt others she will loose her purity."

"She did and she is going to be the one to kill you."

"She can't kill."

"Not that you know of. She is youkai now and I know that she will be the one to take care of your ass my brother and I are here to make sure that she succeeds."

"You have a lot of confidence in someone that you don't know all that well."

"I know her much better than you do."

"Not that it matters I know that she will die tonight and I will bathe in her blood as you watch me rut with her. That should make things interesting for you."

"Over my dead body."

"I can arrange that. Come lets start this farce of a battle and we will have our fun Kagome I know that I will be able to please you much better than your inu there."

"Somehow I seriously doubt that." Smiled Kagome as she and Sesshomaru moved forward toward the hanyou that had taken so many lives and hurt so many people.

Kagome had her powers in the fore and Sesshomaru had the Tenseiga pulled, Kagome placed a hand on her mates shoulder and started to allow it to flow over him so that he could add it to the attack of Tenseiga. He released the power at the hanyou at the same time that Inuyasha released the power of the backlash wave. Both attacks hit the hanyou at the same time, the power that they had combined was staggering to the others that were standing there. There wasn't much left of Naraku as Kagome turned to the hanyou and began to pull the shards of the Shikon No Tama from him. She felt their power tainted but strong coming toward her, she closed her eyes concentrated on them knowing that once she had them in her hand she would be able to finish this.

"Kagome look out!" yelled Inuyasha as he moved to her side as the other youkai moved to attack them.

"I have to concentrate Inuyasha I cant see what is going on outside of me can you help make sure that I don't get attacked. My brother will do that I have to get the others they need help."

"Just make sure that Sesshomaru finds me.'

"I am right here Kagome." His velvet voice in her ear reassuring her that he was there to watch over her

"I know my mate lets finish this I have to deal with the jewel then it is all over."

"As you say so shall it be." Said Sesshomaru as he turned to make sure that all of the youkai that Naraku had sent after them were staying away from Kagome. He kept a close eye on her as he continued to fight at her side.

She felt the pull of the tainted shards that Naraku had. She concentrated on them and called them to her. She had to do this fast or the attack of Sesshomaru and Inuyasha would have been for nothing at the same time that she was trying to pull the shards Naraku was trying to use them to strengthen himself again. She couldn't allow that this had to end tonight. She powered all of her energy into pulling the jewel into herself. She opened her eyes and watched the pink shards that Naraku had glowing and slowly moving toward her through the air. She could not loose this connection to the jewel to do so would allow Naraku to gain it back. She pulled harder on it she had to get her hands on it though she didn't really want to keep it she had to get it away from Naraku. She felt the pain of the jewel as Naraku tried to call it back to himself but she had the greater pull on it. It wanted to come to her she was pure. The small bright pink pieces flew thought the air to her so that it could join the whole. She was getting tired at this point. She gave one last tug and the pieces of the jewel flew into her hands. She then pulled the other shards from around her neck and put them all together. Inuyasha and Sesshomaru seeing that Kagome had pulled the Jewel from Naraku then moved to attack the hanyou and protect Kagome knowing that she was now much weaker than she had been just moments before.

Sesshomaru released his Dragon Strike as the Tenseiga began to glow blue, Inuyasha released the Bakayura the two forces joined with a third from the now bowed Kagome on the ground. Her light pink powers blended perfectly with the power of the two-inu males that were there to protect her. The blast was so strong that nothing could have escaped the whole clearing including the palace was lit up like it was daytime. The whole area was cleared of even the dead youkai that were moments ago laying on the ground. Shippo, Sango. Miroku and Kirara approached the now bent males as they tried to pick up the fallen miko. Inuyasha not listening to the warning growls coming from Sesshomaru ended up getting a light scratch on his cheek in warning not to touch the female on the ground. Sesshomaru picked up Kagome and held her close as he continued to watch the palace for any signs of life coming from within. He knew that Kagura and Kanna were both in the palace but he didn't know if they had made it out of the purifying aura that had enveloped the palace.

He watched as the wind sorceress and the small white haired girl walked out of the palace they bowed to him and Kagome then walked away from the fight they didn't want to agitate their rescuers. Sesshomaru then looked into the silvery blue eyes of his mate knowing that now that the hanyou was dead Kagome would finally have some peace. Then again Inuyasha thought that Kagome was going to give the Jewel to him so there might be a problem there. He looked over at his brother who looked at Kagome expectantly thinking that she would now hand over the complete Shikon No Tama drooling with anticipation of the fulfillment of the one wish that he had had since he was just a pup.

"Inuyasha you can not have the Jewel." Said Sesshomaru calmly

"What are you talking about Kagome promised it to me when we finished it."

"I didn't know what would happen if I gave you that wish." Sighed Kagome thinking about how hurt her friend would be knowing that he would not be able to be the full youkai that he wanted to be.

"What is the wish that you would have made Inuyasha?" asked Sesshomaru all ready knowing the answer to it though wanting to hear it from his brother.

"I wanted to be youkai not hanyou."

"What if I told you that you could be changed yourself but that until you learn to control that which you have you would not be given that chance."

"You mean you know how to do it."

"Yes look what I have done to my mate."

"You would do that for me."

"If that was the wish that you would have made."

"It was but why?"

"You have protected her from most of the pain that she could have had in the past."

"But I harmed her as well I almost killed her."

"I forgave you right after you did it."

"Why though."

"When I saw what Kikyo and Naraku had planned for you I had to. You didn't know what it was that you were doing. I have to agree with Sesshomaru in this though you will have to wait to change until you learn to control what you all ready have."

"Whom would I train under?"

"Myself." Said Sesshomaru as he moved closer to his brother

"You mean that?"

"Yes I have a promise to keep."

"To whom?"

"Myself."

"What does that mean?"

"I promised myself that if you were to see the truth of your self that I would give you give you the chance that you were robbed of from birth. You have to know how to deal with it first. You will never be as strong or as powerful but you will be youkai."

"If you swear that you will do that I will not go for the Shikon No Tama." Said Inuyasha realizing what it was that his brother was trying to do.

"What the legends never told the ningen was that every time the wish on the Jewel was used no matter how selfless the wish it would shatter. There was no way to deal with the ramifications of shattering it again. If Kagome keeps it and guards it for the rest of eternity there will be no more problems with youkai trying to kill humans for it. As well there will be no more suffering by mikos for having it. Far too much blood has been spilt over such a small jewel. No matter what the power it holds there is no reason for so many to die for it."

"I have to agree." Said Sango and Miroku

"So if you are agreed with me shall we return to the Western Palace so that we might rest?" asked Sesshomaru with thoughts of Kagome riding him on his mind knowing that he wanted her and that though tired she wanted him as well.  
"I am ready for bed," smiled a tired Shippo who sat on his mothers' shoulder now holding tight to her neck.

"Then lets return to the Western Palace. Inuyasha you can lead your friends there I am going to take my mate home. The guards will allow you into the palace grounds then Jaken will show you to your rooms if he doesn't kick him and I will deal with him when the sun rises for I too am tired as well." Said Sesshomaru looking at the miko beauty in his arms his eyes telling so much more than the others had caught on to.

"If you want to take her tonight just tell me." Smiled Inuyasha seeing the gleam in his brothers' eyes.

"What she and I do is our business. The palace will be your home should you chose to make it such." Said Sesshomaru now changing so that he could carry his mate to his palace.

"We will be there before too long Sesshomaru and thank you."

"For what Inuyasha?" asked the taiyoukai surprised at his brothers words not expecting Inuyasha to say anything.

"A second chance."

"You are one of the Guardians of the Shikon No Tama. By the way if I remember the legend you will all look a little different n the morning well the ningen will. See you then. Sayonara brother I will see you in the morning."

"Yeah if you sleep at all tonight.' Smiled the younger of the inu brothers

"There is a chance that I wont.' Smiled Sesshomaru

"Hey you two I am right here you know." Protested Kagome

"My koi you know that you and I will be much more by dawn just allow us this you know that for too long we have not talked.'

"Just because you haven't doesn't give you the right to talk about things like that in front of me."

"I am sorry mate. Let's go home."

"Home."

************THE NEXT MORNING************

The morning found the group standing in front of the sunlight doors of the palace. Miroku who had changed during the night as had Sango had just gotten smacked for his wandering hand again. Miroku was now a wolf youkai, the saying a wolf in sheep's clothing came to mind when looking at him. Everyone thought it was quite appropriate for the hentai houshi to be a wolf always on the prowl. Sango on the other hand was a neko youkai; to the others there really wasn't a surprise there. Sango and Miroku who were now standing very close once gain looked at the couple in front of them. The mark of the western lands prominent on Kagomes forehead. Sesshomaru and Kagome had kept the palace up most of the night with their growls but then again no one really minded. How could they when they could hear the joy peace and love that had filled those same growls. Inuyasha was the same but now stood at the side of his brother, where he had always wanted to be. Even though he was still a hanyou he was finding that just being at his brothers side was more than enough for the moment. He knew that it would take years to finish his training but as long as he was with Sesshomaru and they worked together there would be threat that they couldn't deal with. Kagome moved from Sesshomaru's side and pulled out the now complete Shikon No Tama, showing the others that it was still pure. Suddenly a light shone from the Jewel as they watched. Kagome released it as it floated up into the air above them

"Miko inuyoukai Kagome, Shukujo of the Western Lands, you have fulfilled your destiny. Is there anything that we can do for you?" asked the voices of the Shikon No Tama.

"Just one question."

"What is that Shukujo of the West?"

"Will there be youkai in my time now?"

"Yes Shukujo of the West."

"That is all that I wanted to know.'

"We can give you what ever you want is there something that you desire?" asked the voices of the Jewel

"No I have all that I want." She answered honestly she had wanted love she had that. She had wanted her friends to stay with her to help her remember that she was human heart and soul, she had that too. She wanted her son to be healthy and happy, she had that. There was nothing else that she wanted. She would see her family again though in 500 years but she had to stay here that was the decision that she had made so though it would hurt her she would stay here at her mates side where she belonged.

"You have no wish of us?" asked the confused Shikon No Tama

"No." came the unanimous answer from the group around the miko inuyoukai.

"We will make a gift to you then our Shujuko of the West." The voices answered

"What is that?"

"See for yourself." They answered as little Rin walked out of the palace doors. No one had thought about the fact that she had been in the palace. She wasn't human any longer she was inuyoukai much like Kagome and Sesshomaru them selves were.

"But why?" she asked

"You deserve something for your sacrifice, this is what we chose to give to you. We will now reside within you. We will not interfere with your life any longer." The voices answered, as the glow from the Jewel got brighter then moved to the center of Kagome's forehead. She sucked in her breath as she felt the surge of power from the Shikon No Tama as it joined with her. Sesshomaru looked at her forehead the only mark that had been left there was a small silver star on her forehead surrounded by the midnight blue crescent moon crest of the west.

"What the heck happened?" she asked him

"My koi they have decided to live within you. You are now the Shikon No Tama and no matter what the future holds they will stay with you."

"Why are you staring at me forehead did I grow a horn or something?" she asked him as he placed his finger over her mark of the west.

"Your mark is different than when you awoke.'

"So is yours." She answered

"What do you mean?"

"You have a star with your moon."

"You see one on myself too?"

"Yes."

"Hey we have one too what the hell is this?" asked Inuyasha as he looked over the group gathered there at the palace doors.

"We have marked our Guardians for all of time. For all of you are the Guardians of the Shikon No Tama." Came the voices of the Jewel as the dim light that had still surrounded Kagome faded into her own jaki. Whole and happy the group walked back into the palace for breakfast knowing that no matter what happened in the future that they would always be together as the

**GUARDIANS OF THE SHIKON NO TAMA!**

THE END

**WRITTEN BY:**

**TAIYOUKAI NICHNE**

**Finished January 22, 2006**

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